Why might I be referred to the service?

We see children who have conditions such as a squint, lazy eye or a condition that affects their normal visual development. We see adults with double vision including stroke or brain injury patients. We also see adults with glaucoma.

Amblyopia (Lazy eye)

Often referred to as a lazy eye, Amblyopia is the most common cause of uniocular (single eye) sight-loss in children and young adults. There are a variety of reasons why amblyopia may develop but the treatment is common to all. Usually a patch is worn over the ‘good’ eye to stimulate use of the lazy eye.

Squints

A squint is an eye that turns and stops working with the other eye. The eye may turn in towards the nose or turn outwards, or sometimes up and down. There are different types of squint and different choices of treatment. These will be explained to you by the orthoptist.

Diplopia (Double Vision)

The images we see are a combination of two images sent to the brain by your eyes, one from each eye. Each eye is moved by six muscles which ensure that these two images can be combined to create one. If a muscle or muscles become weak the images produced by each eye do not combine properly and the result is double vision. Double vision can be produced by any combination of muscles becoming weak and can be present for near and/or distance or just in one direction of gaze. Double vision can be treated by fitting prisms to your glasses or incorporating them into your glasses, which compensate for the muscle weakness. Sometimes eye muscle surgery is carried out to realign the eyes. In some cases it is not possible to overcome the muscle weakness and it may be necessary to cover one eye to eliminate the double image.